Tuesday, 22 June 2010

Tokyo Banana

One of my favourite things to pick up at Narita Airport in Tokyo is Tokyo Banana. It is a basically a sponge cake with banana-flavoured custard inside. This is usually sold in boxes of either 8 or 12, for about US$10 and US$15 respectively. The soft and airy sponge cake makes for an excellent afternoon snack. The custard inside is also very yummy, without being too sweet. If you google 'Tokyo Banana', you can find several other blogs talking about it. Some hate it as they think the taste is too artificial and chemical but I love it. There is a shop in basement level 4 of Ion (near Muji and Watsons) which sells many popular snacks from Japan. I'm not sure if Tokyo Banana is available there but the shop is worth a look at as they carry quite an extensive range.

I love Tokyo Banana! Whenever anyone goes to Japan and asks me what I want, I always ask for them to bring back Tokyo Banana, Ichigo Choco Daifuku and Rare Chocolate Daifuku. I have never heard of Black Tokyo Banana.

hi Sheila,Sorry, I don't know where this is sold outside of Tokyo. But if you are flying through any major airport in Japan, there's a possibility that they may stock it, just like how Narita Airport also stocks popular snacks from Hokkaido and Osaka.

hi Kat,I've also never heard of the Black Tokyo Banana, sounds interesting! I also love Japanese 'nama' chocolates, like those from Royce.

i vaguely remember that tokyo banana has some other pdts like pie or cookie. 白色恋人 is very nice though. my favourite snack purchase from NRT. Just to add on, i think it's cheaper to purchase Tokyo banana in the departure gates rather than outside.

hi Von,,Yup, it's definitely cheaper to buy after the departure gate in the dutyfree as you save on the 5% sales tax. Shiroikoibito is lovely too. I usually also stock up on the different varieties of Kit Kat like green tea and sakura.

Oh man, reading this makes me miss some of my favorite snacks. I can't remember if it was last summer or this past Christmas when my son brought home the Shiroi Koibito. That was sooo YUM! The green tea KitKat is yummy too.

I will have to think hard to find someone who will be coming from Japan soon. Unfortunately my son won't make it home this summer.

pop/instant japanese snacks are always so cute and quirky! i love trying them but i've never really liked any enough to keep repurchasing, somehow most of them taste at least a little 'artificial' to me. -stella

Am not sure if these are the Ikebukuro Banana ones that I once bought for my family.

But I love love love Hokkaido stuff (after I went to Hokkaido this yr). IMHO, Japanese pastries (and stuff in general) are of a good quality and tasty but so expensive when you compare them to what you're likely to pay for in Singapore.

I may pay S$3 for a cookie in Japan, but I'll be damned if I do that in Singapore. Ironic huh.

It's ok, thanks for explaining. I wouldn't have minded you pointing it out at all except for the part where you had written 'lmao' and I guess I got a bit over-sensitive. Anyway, let's just forget it. Thanks for reading my blog!